I have written a book on the politics of autism policy. Building on this research, this blog offers insights, analysis, and facts about recent events. If you have advice, tips, or comments, please get in touch with me at jpitney@cmc.edu

To add another layer of horror to something that is already unspeakable, targeting a group of people and making it about them instead of a lone gunmen is adding more pain and agony to more children's and people's lives. Don't we see that? Can't people see we're making it worse? We aren't ensuring our children will be safe with these beliefs. We aren't making the world a better place with more prejudice, bigotry, false assumptions, and fear. Fear is what drives us to conclude that we are fighting a false enemy. Fear is what compels us to segregate, lock up, institutionalize, condemn and torture. Fear is what causes us to commit acts of violence against those we've deemed violent. And when fear is allowed to fester unchecked it turns into something else.

This page was created by an unknown person. No one stopped them from creating this page on Facebook until it had gone viral and hundreds of thousands of people had seen it. It has since been taken down. I do not know what has come of the person who thought it would be a good idea to create such a page. I made the decision to post it because everyone I know who is autistic is living in tremendous fear. They are worried about leaving their homes, they are fearful of allowing their children outside. This page created by one sick person, represents a prejudice that is steadily growing, a prejudice that must end.

Lisa Goring, Autism Speaks' vice president of family services, appeared on Dec. 17 on WVIT-NBC Hartford/New Haven.Goring to address misconceptions about a linkage between autism spectrum disorders and planned violence: